《Cursed World (LitRPG Fantasy Adventure)》 1 - The game is virtual. The sales pitch was something like, ¡°Roleplay the game in the game.¡± Then some half ass rant about no more table tops, no more computer screens or tired hands, YOU WILL BE IN THE GAME. The package had arrived in the morning, Jason¡¯s flat mate had signed for it and placed it on the table to be easily found. Her one was sitting beside his with a note saying, ¡°Start without me, I will jump on as soon as I get home from work.¡± He looked at his watch, she was about one hour away. He considered waiting, then thought he would get a feel for it and guide her set up to speed her up. He was hoping she would like it. While she showed little interest in him romantically, he had developed a crush on her. A stupid school boy crush. She just liked playing games on computers with him. He opened the box, pulled everything out and was surprised at how basic the headset was. It was like a lightweight motorbike helmet with a short, solid antenna popping up on one side. There were no hand controllers, just the helmet. It also came with basic instructions. STEP ONE: Put on the headset. STEP TWO: Adjust for comfort. STEP THREE: Let the AI guide you through. He checked to see if it needed charging or batteries but couldn¡¯t find anything that helped. He did find the on button, pushed it, then some lights appeared. He checked the instructions for information about powering it but found nothing. He thought, ¡°No worries, I will play until it is drained and figure it out later.¡± He sat down, put the headset on and waited. Within moments he felt a shift within his mind. The imagery lit up with extremely good graphics, sounds of forest and birds appeared, then a screen appeared. Welcome to Cursed Earth The screen appeared: Then a voice, a kind female voice as they always tend to be, said, ¡°Hello Jason, you are about to enter a roleplaying game unlike anything you have experienced before. But before we begin, let us sort out your character. Which race would you like to be?¡± Dwarf Elf Gnome Halfing Half Elf Half Orc Human He considered how he had been playing good types for quite a while, and that he had been stuck in spell casters for a couple of years. Then he decided to mix it up a bit and said, ¡°Half Orc.¡±He thought ¡°For a game that is unlike anything else, it sure looks familiar and archaic. Still, he decided to give it a go given he had paid well for the game. "Which class would you like to be?" Barbarian Bard Clerc Druid Fighter Monk Paladin Ranger Rogue Sorcerer Wizard Jason ignored spell casters and consider the others. It would be funny to have a Half Orc Paladin, but they are too good. Rogue is too sneaky. Maybe a ranger or barbarian. He considered barbarian but wondered if he was being too clich¨¦ about that. Then he thought, ¡°What the fuck, clich¨¦ it up.¡± ¡°Barbarian.¡± ¡°Good choice. Now I will roll for your stats and adjust them with the modifiers.¡± Strength: 18 Dexerity: 14 Constitution: 16 Intelligence: 10 Wisdom: 11 Charisma: 9 After thirty minutes of character building, Jason had his character organized as follows.The kind voice kept talking to Jason as they went through the process of character building. It was a lot of talking, selections, short explanations. Half Orc Barbarian Age: 17 years Level 1 Maximum Hit Points: 10 Armor Class Attack Defense FeatsA case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Skill ranks Class Features. Race features Saving Throws Equipment The kind voice said, ¡°Now we can determine what kind of game and world you want to be in.¡± Jason looked at the screen and thought it was okay. Too much work, not enough play, he just wanted to get stuck into the game. Develop your own Random and knowing the world Random and learn as you go The voice said, ¡°Thank you for that, the game can now begin.¡±Given it was is first game, he figured random and learn as you go would be a fun way to start. Jason felt an uneasy intrusion into his brain, it unsettled him so much that he went to take the headset off, but it remained firm. The friendly voice said, ¡°Please do not remove the headset while the game is loading.¡± He tried to pull the headset off but couldn¡¯t. It was fixed to his head. He pulled harder then everything became blank and empty for a few moments. He stopped trying to remove the headset, lay back into his chair as he felt he was falling and didn¡¯t want to hurt himself. Then it was as if his eyes were switched back on. He was in a room, solid wooden walls, thatch roof, a basic table and chair with a meal ready to eat. The graphics were unbelievably real, yet the more surprising feature was he could smell the room. It was clean smelling, with a lot of pine in the air. Everything was fresh, clean and breathable as only deep forest air can be. When he stood up, he could feel his virtual legs doing the work. He looked at his large, dark green hands and opened and closed them. Every movement could be felt, he could almost be convinced he was the half orc. For fun, he slapped himself in the face and it hurt. That was when he had the first realization that this game may not be fun in a fighting situation. How much would he feel? He asked the friendly voice, ¡°Why am I feeling pain?¡± She answered, ¡°The Cursed World experience is so real, you will feel like you are really there. Pain is one of the features of the game.¡± Jason asked, ¡°Please turn it off.¡± There was a momentary silence before she answered, ¡°That is not an option. Cursed World prides itself in realism.¡± Jason said to himself, ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think so.¡± She answered, ¡°It is a very real experience.¡± ¡°Fair enough, I would like to leave the game now, I need to read the instructions or something.¡± She answered, ¡°That is not possible until you reach the save point.¡± ¡°Then tell me where the closest save point is.¡± She said, in her friendly voice, ¡°I am unable to tell you as you selected the Discovery option. You need to find the save location without support.¡± Jason had a sinking feeling. He asked, ¡°About this pain feature, how far does it go?¡± She replied, ¡°You feel what the character feels, it is as if you are really the character. You will not be able to tell the difference between the game pain and real pain.¡± ¡°Shit. Okay. Fine. So, what happens if I die in the game?¡± She answered flatly, ¡°You die in real life. A game is the most realistic role-playing game ever designed.¡± He thought that it can¡¯t be like that, it is a game. He asked, ¡°I am not talking figurative death here, I mean, my character dies, what happens from there? Do I respawn, the game ends, what happens to me?¡± She answered, ¡°You really die. You are fully connected to the character. For the real experience, you need to make decisions that have real consequences. Bear in mind, the game is designed to match your level, but as your power increases, so do the challenges and death becomes more likely.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure he understood properly, or whether the AI was misunderstanding him. Then the AI kept talking. ¡°Please understand that it is best not to test the death feature. It is real. There is a built-in function in the headset that will kill you if you die in the game.¡± Shit. I just wanted to play a good game with Maree. Jason sat down. He was about to ask the AI where he was, but given the Learn As You Go option. He asked, ¡°How long does the average person take to reach the first save location?¡± She answered, ¡°Six game weeks. Each week represents one hour in real time.¡± ¡°What percentage of people make it to the first save location alive?¡± ¡°9.4%¡± Jason felt sick. But he kept his calm. Firstly, this is a game, he wasn¡¯t really going to die in it. In saying that, he wasn¡¯t going to take the risk either, and six hours of playing is not a huge deal. He looked at his half-orc hands. Considered the bastard sword on his hip and his equipment. He knew he had the basics in that regard. Maybe he should go outside to see where he was, practice using the body, figure out how to use the skills and feats, and see if there were any clues on which direction to take. He stood up, opened the door, then walked out. 2 - Moving Forward Jason had never been into a significant forest. He had done a few three day hikes with his father into the hills, and he felt like the hikes took him deep into the wilderness to where the ancient trees lived. Where he stood now made his three day hikes seem like walking into a nursery. The forest was ancient, filled with old trees that protected young saplings. The ground itself oozed out a spiritual sense of belonging. An earthen home for all things living. He felt unsettled in the old forest. ¡°Wait,¡± he said to himself, ¡°this is a game. How is the game producing these feelings?¡± No matter how hard he attempted to rationalize the senses as being a tricky part of the game, he couldn''t help but feel insignificant in his surroundings. Still, he wasn¡¯t there to feel the awe, he was there to draw a bastard sword, swing it around and smash something. One thing he was very aware of was how big he was. Jason was not a big man, he is average in every respect. But the half-orc was huge. A full head taller than even a tall man, and he was definitely much heavier. Even so, when he walked, he felt light, his legs were powerful, with arms that would match most legs in strength and a torso that beggared belief. He decided to run, remembering he had the skill of fast movement. That skill was accurate. He ran as fast as he could and found it hard to keep up with the rapid motion. Jason was not a fast runner, but now he wished he could be. After a decent sprint, he noticed his breathing was not vastly increased. He couldn¡¯t help but compare this body with his own inferior one. He thought, ¡°Well, since I am here, I may as well play the role.¡± He asked the voice, ¡°Did you give me a name?¡± She answered, ¡°No, you can name the character, but if you don¡¯t want to, the selected name for you is Grarl.¡± ¡°Actually, I like that name, I will keep it.¡± He drew the sword out. Jason had never held a sword other than posing for photos. They felt heavy and awkward to him. As Grarl, it felt familiar, light, easy to move. He was not sure how to proceed so he simply swung the sword. He moved the sword as if by instinct. After several minutes of swinging and stabbing the sword, he combined that with moving his feet. And again, the movement was instinctual. He kept doing this for about one hour until he could notice that he was not precise in his movements. Sure, Grarl was far better than Jason, but there were errors in foot placement, inaccuracies in where the sword was meant to go compared to where it went. After the sword practice, Jason¡¯s initial excitement at being a bad ass sword fighter had waned. Just for fun, and to remove the feeling of impending doom, he lifted his head up and roared as loud as he could. His voice produced a deep, guttural roar that would make most sensible people run away. He liked that a lot. Size, power and lots of noise makes for one scary monster. Then, surprisingly, he felt thirsty and hungry. He had a look around the forested area, looking to the edges of the clearing he had been practicing in. He had no idea what he hoped to find, maybe a shop. He didn¡¯t see a shop. Survival Skill Check: Successful. You see several types of edible roots, a fruit tree and a tree with edible nuts. There is a small river nearby with drinkable water. Grarl looked around, unsure how a message would help him find the food, when he noticed a green highlight around all the types of food listed. All he needed to do was walked up to the highlighted area, dig up the roots, pick the fruit, collect the nuts. Before he realized it, he had plenty of food, cold water and a pang that suggested he would rather eat meat. He returned to the hut he spawned into, saw a table and chair outside, nicely positioned to exploit the warmth from the sun, prepared the meal and ate like a minor king. When he finished the meal and marveled at the awesomeness that was having a half-orc body, he pondered how the intelligence, wisdom and charisma stats were created. He asked, ¡°I get the stats of the body, you can do anything physically, but how do you come to the other three stats?¡± She answered, ¡°Before assigning intelligence we seek out any online evidence of your IQ and other forms of intelligence measuring. In your case, you are average. Wisdom is developed by which decisions you make, how kind you are, do you have a world view that in individual or collective. In your case, you measured slightly above average. Charisma is developed by scrolling your social media account and that of others to find out what they think of you. This allowed us to determine that your charisma is slightly below average. We then collate the data, insert the numbers, and allow the game to predict how others interact with you.¡± Jason was feeling slightly exposed and annoyed. While he did not disagree with the assessment, although he thought he would be a 13 at least, it felt that there was far too much information on the internet about him. He said, ¡°That is slightly disturbing.¡± She answered, ¡°Many people say that, but we have secure privacy rules, nobody will get this information without your permission.¡± He sat on the chair, in the sun, with the fresh, pine scented air and cool breeze and considered what he needs to do now to get back home. The only options he had were to walk in a random direction and hope for the best. Or follow the rather clearly marked path leading down the hill and into the forest. He thought that obvious things may not be good things. With a 9% chance of survival, he needed to consider what others had done before him and assume that they made common mistakes. He said, ¡°Are there other players in this game world?¡± She answered nicely, ¡°Yes. Every world has up to 1000 other players in it, and 100,000 NPCs. You are unable to tell the difference unless you clearly ask the question on whether they are a PC or NPC. The game has been designed to discourage this behavior as it reduces the realism of the game.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°What happens if I do it?¡± ¡°Half your experience points are removed.¡± ¡°Is there any point asking where the path leads to?¡± ¡°No¡± He went into the hut, gather his equipment, cramming it into the backpack, put it on, felt pleased about his new super strong body, walked out he door and looked down the path again. The sun was indicating half the day was gone. He had everything he needed to get by, he felt good about everything. Except the path and that 9% survival chance. He was going to walk the path, but just as he was about to walk, he thought about Maree. ¡°Maree is going to join the game later on. Will she spawn into the game here?¡± ¡°Highly unlikely.¡± He decided to leave a note for her anyway. First problem was no paper or ink or pen. Then he pulled out his dagger and began to etch in a message, except he couldn¡¯t do it. Regardless of how hard he tried, he could write any words Skill Reminder You are illiterate Shit. He decided to scratch in the house and the path and made an arrow pointing to the path. It would have to do. He went back outside, walked to the path and kept going. The path was well defined in that there was no grass on it. The trees on each side allowed easy passage, the track made for good walking under the protection of the canopy. It wound its way around trees, across small streams, up and down the slopes of the terrain. For the most part, it led downhill, into a valley until it reached a small river. It then followed the river downstream. Grarl stopped for a while, removed some food, took a drink directly from the river, then sat on a rock for a while. The sun was going down, he wasn¡¯t sure if he should pitch a tent or keep walking given his dark vision made night travel far less dangerous to do. It didn¡¯t matter too much, he was predicting he would reach a town of some function soon. Although he had no reason for believing that other than when he hiked with his father, there was always a hut to sleep in each night. Skill Check: Spot: Successful. You see two orcs hiding in the bush ahead. Grarl stopped in his tracks. Without thinking too much, he drew his sword. He called out, ¡°I know you are there.¡± Both orcs removed themselves from hiding, smiling at him, although it was not a warm kind of smile. The big one said, ¡°I see your head has healed since we last met.¡± The other one laughed. Grarl stayed silent. The big orc kept talking, ¡°Why don¡¯t you give up, humans and orcs will always fight, why do you get in the middle when nobody likes your kind?¡± Grarl decided it was best to say nothing, while keeping his sword in its pose. Skill Check: Listen: Successful. Footsteps approaching from behind. He decided the footsteps were from another orc doing a sneak attack. Rather than check, he swung around with intent to hit whatever was there at chest height. Attack Roll: 13 +6 = 21. Hit Orc. Damage: 3 +4 = 7 damage. He swung true, and the orc who was attempting to sneak attack suddenly had a sword splitting him almost in half at the chest. Grarl pulled the sword out quickly to ready himself for other two. They were rushing him, he didn¡¯t have time to dodge them as they swung, but he was ready enough to take evasive action. Orc Attack Roll: 1 +1 = 2. Natural 1 = dropped weapon Damage: 0. Orc Attack Roll: 7 +1 = 8. Missed Grarl Damage: 0 The big orc seemed over eager, he was making a sweeping attack but forgot to place his feet correctly, slipped on a rock and fell over. The other one was getting close but lacked accuracy. With the big orc on the ground, Grarl was able to shift aside for the downward swing. With the smaller orc moving past, Grarl took a swing. Attack Roll: 7 +6 = 13. Hit Orc. Damage: 5 +4 = 9 damage. His hand was unsteady and a slight slip in his foot movement made a certain hit an almost hit. But he did hit. With this immense strength the sword struck the orc in the back, tore through the studded leather and deep into its flesh. It collapsed on the ground, dead. Without much pause, Grarl returned his attention to the big orc. He was standing again, sword ready but moving backwards. He said, ¡°I will leave you alone this time, Grarl.¡± With that said, the orc turned to run into the bush to disappear into the forest. Grarl stood silent, fight ready, for several minutes. He dared not move, but he felt the adrenalin coursing through his body so much that his hands began to shake, and his knees felt like buckling. He had just killed two orc with two hits. He looked down at the hacked bodies on the ground. He could smell the blood, the detail of the damage he had inflicted was real. It was extremely real. He said to himself, ¡°This is just a game, treat it like a game.¡± The friendly female voice said, ¡°Well done, you have survived your first fight. Remember to check for loot.¡± Jason said, ¡°Look, if you are going to be talking to me, at least give me a name.¡± ¡°You can call me Anna.¡± ¡°Thanks, can you please fuck off Anna?¡± She didn¡¯t answer. She did have a point though about checking for loot. He knew orcs wouldn¡¯t have much, but given he is first level, everything counts. He found the money punches quickly and scoped out a total of 18gp and found a jade gem. He carefully looked at it, but he had no idea how much it would be worth. He didn¡¯t really care at that point, although it pleased him, gems were always good news. CHARACTER UPDATE 21gp (gold pieces) total 1 x Jade Gem (unvalued) 300xp (experience points):700xp until next level. Having checked the dead orcs, he decided it was best to move on quickly. Even with his size and strength, being alone in a forest full of orcs made a single half-orc a target worth attacking. Although he had no idea what the orc was talking about when he said he was in the middle of humans and orcs, nor about their last encounter. ¡°Anna, what happen the last time I met that orc?¡± She said, ¡°That orc is named Grimshaw, he is your half-brother. He attempted to kill you in your last encounter. It ended with a large scar on top of your head. You were saved because the orc guards stopped the assault because it is illegal to attack half-orcs in Orc Town.¡± ¡°And what did he mean by being in the middle of humans and orcs?¡± ¡°He is referring to an organization you are part of that is a collection of half-orcs who have made it their mission to occupy the middle ground between humans and orcs in order to maintain the peace.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Jason was unsure what to make of that. Rather than ponder on it, he decided it was best to move. The sun was going down, his dark vision was working wonderfully, he was still fresh and able to walk. He returned to the track and began walking. He was hoping to make a town soon. He had no idea if it would be human or orc, or which one would be the best one for him. He decided that it probably didn¡¯t matter, half-orcs were hated by everyone anyway. 3 - Orc town or human town? At first, he was hoping for a human town, mostly because he felt comfortable at the thought of being around people. Then he remembered how humans treated half-orcs when playing role playing games. But worse, he understood how people treat those who are different. Jason remembered his school days of being bullied for not wanting to be part of any group. He never felt part of any group. He didn¡¯t fit in. Those of the bullying nature ceased their opportunity and harassed him to the point of a breakdown. Now he was standing on the edge of the forest, a human town was aa short walk across farmland, with warm firelight and the sounds of merriment reaching out over the walls, he wasn¡¯t so sure he should enter. He was now considering seeking out the orc village. Even with a murderous half brother living there, they had solid rules for not attacking him and guards to back the rules up. That doesn¡¯t happen without solid leadership. He may not be welcome, but he could be safer with orcs than humans. ¡°Do I know where the orc village is?¡± ¡°Yes, you do. You have been heading East. To return home, head West along the track. To find Slargut, head North along the edge forest for two hours, then walk into the forest. You will quickly locate Slargut tracks.¡± He considered the two hours of walking, the almost certain negative treatment he would get with humans and the certain problem his half-brother would give him. And that excludes the part where he just killed two orcs. As he stood there, he felt a cold breeze coming down from the mountains. It had the feel of snow in it. Not that it would snow, just that it was snowing in the mountains. He made a quick mental note that winter is coming after he noticed the autumn leaves falling. He also made another personal note to buy a winter coat, and to make it look awesome in some way. He sat down to think. Where would the save location be? Most games have them in safe places, like towns. But given the six week average to find one, and the 9% survival rate and how easy it was to get here, he had a feeling the save location was not in a town or anywhere safe. He had a horrible feeling it was somewhere that required direct personal danger. He told himself, ¡°This is just a game.¡± ¡°That is correct. But the consequences are real.¡± He ignored her. Jason had always enjoyed role playing games, at how it could create real emotion, connection, friends and enemies. He marveled with his few friends at how real it seemed at times. If he was playing his character in a table game, he would enter the town, find a tavern, ask a few questions about what is happening locally, figure out what is happening, order a room then sleep. As a half-orc in danger of really dying, the decision making was not so simple. He might die for real. His chest began to tighten up, his breathing became strained, his mind was freezing. He hated stress, and he had plenty of it trying to make a fairly standard decision in this type of game. He reminded himself, ¡°91% of people die in this game. Why? Is it because it is hard, or did they changed how they played?¡± He thought to himself, ¡°This is a game, so play it as if it was one.¡± He stood up, looked around himself for no reason, then started walking towards the town. As he got closer his anxiety increased, he could also begin to hear individual voices in the town. They werecelebrating something. As he approached the walls of the town, he noticed they were made of wood, he assumed it would be temporary or fragile. Yet as he got closer, he realized it was extremely well made The tree sized logs were tightly linked together, gaps didn¡¯t exist, and the outside was sanded down into a fine finish with an oiled finish. By the time he reached the gate, with the expected couple of armed guards, he had changed his point of view on wooden walled towns. While not as imposing or intimidating as a stone walled castle, it was still a significant barrier to scale. Grarl approached the guards, who stood as he approached, their hands unconsciously going to their sword hilts. The smiles they had disappeared, yet they maintained their position. He expected them to approach, they didn¡¯t. Grarl simply walked into the town without issue. Under the gatehouse and into a plaza. There were about one hundred people dancing to musicians playing recorders and drums to encourage joyous movement. The peopledance tothe music in abundance. Grarl simply walked around the plaza. He wanted to avoid interacting with anyone, to find the tavern he desired and get the plan over with as quickly as possible. While people were happy, dancing, laughing and hugging, each person he got close to stopped smiling, a serious face replaced the mirth, the talking ceased, and they all watched him make his way past them. When he walked by them, and they felt safe again, they would laugh nervously, with the occasional taunt by those brave enough to risk it. Grarl ignored them. He understood the fear in many ways. He was a fully head taller than most men, was half as heavy as them, was carrying a sword, had dirty green skin, a face only a mother could love and a racial reputation that was terrible.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He didn¡¯t want to add to the reputation in a way that worsened it. He walked the edge of the plaza, seeking a tavern sign, he wanted it over with. He was almost on the other side of the plaza when he saw a tavern sign. He couldn''t read it but it was close enough. He made his way to the sign, found the door, ducked his head through the door and entered a new environment. The room was warm, wooden furniture that was all stained dark and showing the tree rings off to great effect. The bar itself was along one wall, a few stools had people sitting on them. The mood was oddly low, nobody was really talking and in direct contrast to the joy going on in the plaza just outside. Many of the people in the tavern looked up, saw him, then went back to what they were doing as if nothing special had happened. It felt weird to go from moderate fear and stares, to nobody caring in the distance of a doorway. He wanted to feel relief, but on closer inspection, the people in the room all carried swords, were scarred, and unbothered by his presence. He looked towards the voice to see three half-orcs, two male, one female, all armored up and with travel gear under the table. They were smiling at him. That was a good sign. He first walked to the bar, checked the prices on the wall but couldn¡¯t read them. He asked, ¡°How much for a jug of ale?¡± The bar tender looked at Grarl like he was stupid, then said, ¡°How hard did you get hit on that head?¡± ¡°How much?¡± he asked more firmly. It was hard to tell if he should be friendly or not, but given he has a lowish charisma, he went with the attitude of ¡°I am always slightly pissed off¡± approach. ¡°2sp, you grumpy bastard.¡± Jason smiled a little inside. He took 1gp out of his pouch, placed it on the bar and said, ¡°Keep them coming.¡± You now have 20gp He then walked to the apparent friends. As he walked, he said quietly to Anna ¡°Who are these guys?¡± ¡°They are part of a small group of half-orcs that you are involved with. You have all decided that since you are in both worlds, you would rather stop both sides from fighting than having to pick a side. You are all working together to maintain an uneasy peace between orcs and humans in this region. SO far, it is failing¡± ¡°How many are there in this group?¡± ¡°Four half orcs.¡± He reached them, they all stood to welcome him but as the first one stood he froze and said, ¡°Going by the new fuck ass scar on your scalp, I take it the meeting with Grimshaw didn¡¯t go to plan.¡± Before Grarl could answer the half-orc wrapped his arms around him and squeezed tightly. The female was next, ¡°Good to see you again.¡± Her hug wasn¡¯t as rough, a gentler embrace. The last just laughed at the scar, pat him on the head and said, ¡°I told you your brother would try to kill you.¡± Grarl put his hand on his scalp, as he wasn¡¯t aware of the scar nor had he inspected it in any way. What he felt shocked him somewhat. His hand ran along his head and felt a deep, fresh healing wound that went from above his brow to the peak of his skull. The thickness of the wound was the same as a sword. How had he survived such an injury? The jug of ale arrived with four mugs. The barman placed them in the middle of the table and walked away. Grarl called to him, ¡°It was only for me.¡± ¡°Fuck you Grarl.¡± The others all laughed. Grarl sat down, grabbed his mug, poured his own drink and took a few gulps. The ale wasn¡¯t bad, but it wasn¡¯t good either. Definitely not the kind of refined beer in his own world. The woman asked, ¡°So, the new scar?¡± Before answering, he drank more ale. He thought ¡°What the hell am I going to tell them?¡± He also wonder why Anna was not telling him anything, or how to communicate with her without talking. You are able to communicate with your thoughts alone. Speaking to me is optional. He thought, ¡°Bitch. You could have told me that. And what are their names, what will I tell them about the scar?¡± She remained silent. Apparently calling an AI a bitch offends it. ¡°Fucking bitch.¡± May as well double down. He said, ¡°Grimshaw and I met at Slargut, we talked, he disagreed then tried to kill me by smacking his sword on my head. The fight was stopped before I could kill him.¡± The hugger half-orc¡­.. they call themselves Orckin¡­.. said, ¡°How did he not kill you. Your brother is a killer through and through a shot like that would normally be your end. You are lucky to be alive.¡± Grarl said, ¡°Well, he failed, I got it sort of healed, retreated to the hut up in the hills nearby and rested up. But he tried again when I was coming here. I killed his two buddies and he ran off into the woods.¡± The woman was surprised. She said, ¡°Grimshaw ran away?¡± Jason wasn¡¯t sure what to do. It seemed like Grimshaw could have easily killed him, that he is clearly a skilled warrior, and nobody here understood why the orc would run from a winning fight. Grarl said, ¡°I don¡¯t get it either. I killed his mates, he ran off. I don¡¯t care why he ran, I am just happy he did.¡± Head patter orckin said, ¡°I can drink to that.¡± He filled every mug, handed them around and they all drank the entire thing in one go. Grarl was beginning to like the ale, a little bit. He asked, ¡°So, while I was earning new scar badges, what have you all been up too?¡± Head Patter orc said, ¡°Well, Triuk here found a place we can set up home. He found a spot just North of here, perfect position to put ourselves in. And Nunda there told the Mayor of this god forsaken town to give the land to us for free in exchange for improving the levels or peace between them and them.¡± Nunda added, ¡°That is why they are celebrating. They are hoping this is the end of the standoff.¡± Grarl asked, ¡°Is it though?¡± Triuk answered, ¡°Unlikely, but let them be happy for now. It has been tough lately for everyone.¡± Head Patter said, ¡°I can drink to that.¡± He filled the mugs again, and again they drank the entire mug until empty. The bar tender returned with a second jug. Grarl said, ¡°They were meant just for me.¡± ¡°Fuck you Grarl.¡± Then walked off. Nunda said, ¡°The new crack in the head has made you nicer.¡± Triuk said, ¡°We can drink to that too.¡± They all laughed, drank another mug and kept talking. Grarl was feeling quite good. Maybe he would make it out of here alive after all. The bar tender returned, empty handed, to say, ¡°Your rooms are ready, Grarl has paid for them all. Also, the mayor wants to see you all in the morning.¡± He turned around and before Grarl could say anything he answered, ¡°Fuck you Grarl.¡± They all laughed again. With each joyous sound they made, even if it was guttural and rough, the tension in the tavern eased. Jason thought, ¡°Yeah, I am going to be okay.¡± He took another swig of ale and just listened to them talk. 4 - This is what we do now. Grarl woke up. Jason panicked. He was sleeping on the floor with a blanket over him, the other three were on the floor beside him. While Grarl was relaxed, Jason saw half-orc faces staring at him. Faces that were disturbing to first wake up too. At first, he was afraid. He leapt to his feet, frantically looking for the door out of the room, but there were three large bodies between him and the door, and Nunda was startled awake as soon as Grarl bolted upright. Then he thought he was in a dream. He was telling himself that he was half asleep, that his brain was dreaming this up even though it looked, felt and smelled so real. Nunda looked at him with concern. She raised her arm, hand out, as if to say to him, ¡°Calm down, everything is okay.¡± At that point, Triuk sat up, rubbed his eyes, then said, ¡°Are you okay Grarl?¡± Then he remembered he was in a game. These were, almost certainly, NPCs playing their AI part in the story. The graphics were so real Jason¡¯s mind was unable to tell the difference between real life and this game. Grarl answered, ¡°Yeah, I am okay, I just had a crap dream.¡± Triuk nudged the head patting orc while saying, ¡°Masin, wake up, we have things to do.¡± Masin sat up, considered the room, rubbed his eyes then stood up. Jason looked at the three of them and wondered, ¡°What the hell is real?¡± "Welcome to day two of your game. In the real world, ten minutes has gone by." He knew what was real as soon as the kind female voice entered his head. Anna, the one who tricked him through omission. They all made their own morning moves. Jason was a little surprised that morning routines for them all included cleaning their teeth. They each had a twig of some fashion that they chewed the end of, then used their fingers to rub the fibers along the teeth. The twigs had a fresh scent. Masin noticed Grarl watching, he put his hand into the pack, removed a twig and threw it to him as if it was obvious what he was thinking. Grarl brushed his teeth as a half-orc for the first time. By the time he had finished, he decided to keep doing it as it was surprisingly refreshing and rhythmic as a morning routine. Each dressed, put their leather armor on and prepared for the events of the day. Grarl asked, ¡°What is the plan for today?¡± Triuk answered, ¡°See the Mayor to confirm the land usage. Get some supplies, I need a warmer top. Then we walk for three hours to the new location and figure out what needs to be done.¡± Masin said, ¡°And while we are with the Mayor, Grarl, and please don¡¯t take this wrong, but you need to say nothing, and doing nothing but stand there are look pretty.¡± Nunda laughed while Triuk smiled. Grarl said, ¡°Fine, I will say nothing.¡± Following the lead of his new friends, the left the room and through the common area. The bar tender was there, he smiled to them all until Grarl walked by, then he said, ¡°That will be 3gp for everything. They said you were paying.¡± The other three bolted through the exit. Grarl said, ¡°Here, have four.¡± He placed the gold pieces on the bar then followed the others. You now have 16gp. When he made it out the door, the cool breeze hit his face. Grarl ignored their laughing while enjoying the idea of returning the favor later on. Nunda led the way through the plaza, down the main street until they reached the Mayors Office. Jason was surprised at how small the town was. They were about to enter the small building when Triuk made a rapid side track into a clothing shop. He said, ¡°I need something to keep me warm for winter.¡± Grarl looked at the other two then said, ¡°I need to look as well.¡± With that Grarl and Triuk entered the tailor shop. Grarl had no idea what he was looking for before he entered, but when he did, he was surprised at the selection and found what he was wanting. Grarl walked straight to the wall, pointed to a surprisingly well-made leather trench coat and said, ¡°I want that. How much?¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°4gp.¡± He put it on, but it was too small. The tailor said, ¡°For 1gp and one day to alter it, it will fit you perfectly.¡± Grarl was staring at the trench coat, imagining how he would look awesome in it, when he saw a cowboy hat beside it. While it looked out of place, and the idea that even having it there felt wrong, it bought the hat as well, to pick up the next day after alterations were made for his big head. Triuk bought a standard winter coat and stood there wondering why Grarl was so excited by the trench coat. Grarl happily paid the 6gp for the coat, hat and alterations. You now have 10gp. The left the shop together, both pleased with their purchases, although Triuk said, ¡°If you simply bought a winter coat, it would have been far cheaper.¡± ¡°True, but a trench coat and hat looks a lot better.¡± Triuk replied, ¡°Who cares how we dress, everyone will still hate us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care what others say or think. I like it, it looks good.¡± Grarl walked past Nunda and Masin, opened the door to the Mayor office and entered. He approached a young man sitting by a desk. He was a little surprised at how similar this looked to the real world, probably a lack of imagination on the part of the designers. ¡°I want to see the Mayor.¡± The young man looked intimidated, but he held his ground. The door opened again so Triuk, Masin and Nunda could walk in. Triuk said, ¡°What he means to say to say is the Mayor called for our audience, can you let him know we are here.¡± ¡°Names?¡± ¡°Triuk is the only name he needs.¡± With that, he left the room, walked a short corridor and through a door. When he disappeared Triuk said to Grarl, ¡°Seriously Grarl, no talking, and I mean it.¡± Grarl was opening his mouth to say something when Nunda whacked him in the ear. It hurt. Grarl didn¡¯t say anything. The mayor came out of his room, walked the short corridor to them, and thought they were all being polite for a change. ¡°Thank you for coming in, I will keep it short mostly because I can¡¯t stand your kind. But since you have a good offer, I will accept it. The land is to the North near the orc tracks and where most of the attacks occur. You own the land, can do what you want on it, in exchange for vastly reducing, if not eliminating the hostilities that is going on up there.¡± Triuk said, ¡°This is a good arrangement.¡± The Mayor said, ¡°This doesn¡¯t make any of you good guys, nor does it appease how vile your kind are, this is a business arrangement only. As we agreed, the land is yours, the longer you maintain a stable peace, the more land I will allow. Grow your guild, build a barrier between our species, and your kind can have whatever it is that you think peace is and a place to call home.¡± ¡°And the help?¡± ¡°I have found ten excellent builders. They will work for you for two weeks and you will pay them a total of 20gp. Upfront. If the bail out on you, I will refund the money and jail those who ran.¡± Triuk smiled, ¡°We have a deal.¡± The Mayor didn¡¯t return the smile, he simply swung around and returned to his office. The young man in the office said, ¡°The builders are already waiting for you at the North Gate.¡± Triuk thanked the man. The Orkin left the building together as Masin said, ¡°We have the beginnings of an Orckin home.¡± Triuk said, ¡°Yes we do. Now, there is the small matter of finding 20gp, Grarl.¡± Grarl said, ¡°I only have 10gp left.¡± Triuk looked to the other. They emptied their pouches and they came to a total of 21gp. Triuk took a single gold piece out, pocketed it, then pouched the rest. You have 0gp left There seemed no reason to wait around, so they went to the North Gate, paid the builders, neither of whom seemed overly pleased about the deal, other than the double pay. With that done, they spend the rest of the morning walking the path to their new home, dubbed ¡°Orckin Home¡± by the time they were halfway there. While Jason was enjoying the walking, as he watched the new farmlands and forest in the distance, he also was considering what it was he was doing. He had no real plan, he had no real idea where to find the Save Point. He had deduced it wasn¡¯t in a safe place, which meant it was almost certainly in a place where some moderate evil was lurking that required killing to earn the reward of going back home. It sounded about right, and since he had no other ideas as to the location, that was the thing he was going to be looking for. He also decided that since this is a role-playing game, all he needed to do was hang out with a group of adventurers, level up by killing some monsters, collecting some loot and having a generally good time while here. He also decided that he was concerned about Maree entering the game. He was making many guesses, but the one he wanted the most to be correct was Maree turning up in such a way as to be able to connect up with him. All he needed to figure out is what will Maree be when she makes her character. With that in mind, he was hoping she stayed true to her normal type and selected being a Cleric. By the time he had thought that through, they had made the location of their home. A flat area, enough trees to make a decent house and a small wall around it, a river and enough peace to fill a lifetime. Masin didn¡¯t waste much time. He was the foreman, and he played the part well. Over the course of the afternoon trees had fallen, some were being shaped and put into place. As the sun dipped below the horizon, a pair of humans approached the Orckin. Triuk summoned them over since they looked nervous about approaching. He asked them, ¡°Are you here to look or ask?¡± ¡°Ask.¡± ¡°Then ask.¡± The young woman said, ¡°We heard you are here as protectors. Well, you know about the orcs, but did you know about the zombie and skeleton problem?¡± Triuk looked at Grarl and said, ¡°Shall we go zombie hunting tonight?¡± Grarl grinned, ¡°I was hoping you would say that.¡± 5 - Zombies live here After getting more details from the women about the location of the zombies, and the predictable abandoned graveyard and potential evil behind the undead, Jason was not feeling as good as before. The young woman, Abagail, was the daughter of a farmer. The family had only recently started their farm and had already had altercations with several orcs. When they heard about the Orckin arrangement they were feeling better about the orc situation, although not the Orckin solution. But she said she felt better for the Orckin Solution, which is why she approached them about the other major concern, the wandering zombies and skeletons in the area. Triuk asked, ¡°How many are there?¡± ¡°Most nights I count three zombies and several skeletons.¡± ¡°Which direction?¡± ¡°From the West, inside the forest, I think the gravesite is close by.¡± As the details got deeper, Jason suddenly became more aware that he was already losing his awareness that this was a game. His brain was unsure of the virtual being virtual. He knew why. Smells were everywhere, the detail of the graphics made the game as clean and clear as the real world. He was having trouble finding anything that was not quite right but was failing. The details of the NPCs was staggering. Real conversations, the flick of eye movement as she kept returning to look at him. The immense complication of face movement defied belief on its own. He thought, ¡°I wonder if these NPCs are actually players?¡± ¡°I am not able to give that information, and as a reminder, there are severe punishments for divulging your player status.¡± Jason suddenly had a stark reminder in her voice that he was in a game. He thought to her, ¡°Can you stop reading my thoughts?¡± ¡°Yes, all you need is to turn off the mind reading function.¡± ¡°Turn off the mind reading function then.¡± Done. From this point on, if you need to communication with me, you need to speak and say, ¡°Anna¡± at the beginning of the sentence.¡± Jason felt a little better. He had privacy of thought now. He should have thought of that earlier though. Triuk was saying to Grarl, ¡°We won¡¯t need to take anything with us other than weapons.¡± Grarl snapped back into reality. Virtual reality. He nodded, without a word he unloaded everything that was excess to needs from his body. He only had his sword, dagger and money pouch. Abagail asked, ¡°What payment do you want for this?¡± Triuk said, ¡°Nothing, we do this for the peace.¡± Grarl added, ¡°Actually, if it is okay with everyone, I have a trench coat and hat in the tailor shop beside the mayor¡¯s office that I need to get. Next time you are there, can you bring them back with you?¡± Triuk glared at Grarl while Abagail said, ¡°Sure, I would love to do that for you.¡± Grarl smiled, and knowing he had overstepped in asking, he began walking Northward to avoid talking about it. Within the hour they had made it to the river Abagail had told Triuk about. She pointed to the farm, ¡°That is ours, we only just started, the first crop is due soon. I hope you can keep the orcs away though, they are still stealing food around here.¡± Triuk said, ¡°That is why we are here. As Orckin, we walk both worlds and belong in neither, but both sides are listening.¡± Abagail said, ¡°Well, if any of you need a meal, come visit me and I will make a stew for you.¡± Grarl smile, he enjoyed a good stew, homemade, filled with herbs, mince and vegetables. He was beginning to wish he was human, because she looked cute. Then he caught himself in that line of thinking, she isn¡¯t even real. Triuk thanked her and told her to go home. Like a hero his parting words were, ¡°We will take care of this tonight.¡± Grarl gave a slight chuckle. Triuk asked, ¡°What is so funny?¡± ¡°You, acting like a paladin or something.¡± Triuk stated firmly, ¡°I am a paladin.¡± Grarl gave out a loud laugh this time. Shaking his head as he laughed, more than said, ¡°Who knew that was possible, a Half Orc Paladin?¡± Triuk countered, ¡°Half Orc barbarians are as common as muck.¡± Grarl turned to face his new friend then said, ¡°True, I suppose. Who cares what we are, so long as we smash heads and crush the evil ones, right?¡± Triuk nodded his agreement, then said, ¡°Well, not far from here are some pesky zombies, let go practice on them.¡± Without another word, with Grarl leading the way, the moved into the forest in search of evil undead monsters. As Grarl¡¯s eyes swapped from daytime sight to dark vision, as the forest closed its canopy because the birch and pine trees grew tall and the scrub swapped over to low lying ferns, Grarl made headway. Survival Check: Rolled 10 +1 for Skill Rank: You see tracks of a shuffling humanoid. It didn¡¯t take him long, although he was only half looking, before he saw tracks. They were easy to see as the ferns were broken apart and the footsteps were shuffled, making the tracks easy to notice and follow. He turned to Triuk with a proud smile, pointed to the tracks and said, ¡°Me thinks zombie.¡± Triuk knelt down, considered the tracks as if he knew what he was doing then said, ¡°Yep, zombie tracks.¡± He got back up and took the lead, now he saw the tracks it was easy to follow them. Within minutes they reached a broken wooden fence surrounding a grave yard. Inside the grave yard were about twenty graves and two tombs. Grarl said, ¡°Well, this will be fun.¡± Then he saw his first zombie. It was slow moving, its body rotting everywhere, clothes that matched and a shuffling gait. Jason had watched enough zombies movies and television series to not be scared of them on the screen, but in person walking towards him, he felt the fear for the first time. Just for fun, Grarl said, ¡°Lets go kill this walking dead.¡± Triuk looked a little startled as he looked to Grarl, ¡°What did you call them?¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. But before he could answer, two more zombies came from behind a large tree, with a skeleton in tow. The skeleton was quick, was carrying a long sword and bridged the distance quickly. Initiative Rolls: Skeleton: 16 + 5 = 21 Triuk: 16 + 2 = 18 Zombie: 16 ¨C 1 = 17 Grarl: 4 + 2 = 6 Grarl couldn¡¯t stop looking at the skeleton as it rushed forward, even the slow-moving zombies seemed to move faster than expected. He suddenly felt an overwhelming fear as the skeleton lifted its scimitar to bear down on him. Skeleton to Grarl: 13: AC 15: Miss. At the last moment, as the weapon was nearing a hit, Grarl snapped into action, it barely missed his shoulder. Triuk, with a look of concern, charged the skeleton. Triuk to skeleton: 15 +3 = 18: AC 15: Hit. Damage: Long Sword: 2 + 3 = 5 damage. His sword struck the skeleton on the arm, causing a snapping sound, but the skeleton took the damage well. The zombies were close behind, but not far, Grarl decided to try to finish off the skeleton before the zombies arrived, he took aim and swung. Grarl to skeleton: 13 + 6 = 19: Hit Damage: 4 +4 = 8 damage He hit the skeleton as hard as he had the orc a few days ago, but it took the damage. Grarl, expecting to bring the skeleton down, stood in mild awe in how it had withstood both attacks. The skeleton maintained its attention on Grarl and swung at him again. Skeleton to Grarl: 12: Miss Now that Grarl was focusing, the scimitar made another miss, a simple side step did the job. Triuk made a move on the skeleton again, he aimed¡­¡­ Triuk: Natural 1. ¡­¡­ and slipped on the mossy ground. He went down quickly, his sword dropping to the ground out of reach. He swore loudly as he regained his feet surprisingly quickly. The first zombie took and unthinking note of the fallen Triuk and made a grab for him. Zombie: 10: Miss Triuk moved out of reach just in time, the hands of the monster grasping thin air. The second zombie was more interested in Grarl. Zombie: 16: Hit Damage: 7hp Grarl HP: 3 Its hands took a hold of his neck the sharp nails and brutish strength ripping holes through his skin as if it was made of paper. The ripping of his neck sent pain straight into his brain. Jason went from a pretend fear to an actual fear. He knew he would be hit at some stage, but he still hadn¡¯t made the connection between a game hit and how much it would hurt. It hurt exactly as much as it would as real life. Suddenly, this had become all too real for him. Triuk, seeing the large gash and blood from his wound, took to the skeleton with his bare hands. He thought he could finish it off that way. Triuk to skeleton: 5 + 3 = 8: Miss But the skeleton spotted the movement and shifted positions. Triuk moved past the skeleton, but as he did, he drew out his second long sword, preparing for the worst in a fight that wasn¡¯t going to plan. Not that they had made one. The zombie tried to follow Triuk but was too slow. Zombie to Grarl: Natural 1 The zombie in front of Grarl had him in trouble until it somehow fell to the side, rather than making another grab it broke its fall instead. Grarl, everything inside him wanting to run away, took advantage of the prone zombie. Grarl to zombie: 18 + 6 = 24: Hit Damage: 7 + 4 = 11 damage. He stood tall and brought the bastard sword down on its head, the sword sliced it two, the zombie fell to the ground, motionless. The skeleton, without its scimitar, didn¡¯t bother attempting to pick it up and attack Grarl with its bare boney hands. Skeleton: 5: Miss. But Grarl, bleeding from his neck and pain affected, was up to the challenge of avoiding the attack. Triuk was close by, sword in motion. Triuk to Skeleton: 10 + 3 = 13: Hit Damage: 5 + 3= 8 When the sword struck the skeleton, this time it collapsed to the ground. Triuk gave a small ¡°Huzzah.¡± Then the zombie caught up to him. Zombie to Triuk: 7: Miss The third zombie from within the graveyard had made its way through the broken gate, it was close to arriving. Grarl, feeling good about his last hit, struck at zombie in front of him. Grarl to zombie: 19 (critical hit x 2 damage) + 6 = 25: Hit Damage: 10 + 4 = 14 x 2 = 28 Grarl, for the first time felt at one with his sword, he guided it exactly as he intended, timed the hit perfect for maximum force just as it connected to the zombie. The sword didn¡¯t just strike the zombie, it went clear through the torso and out the other side. He had split it into two pieces. Triuk said, ¡°Holy fucking huzzah Grarl.¡± Triuk, still mindful of the upcoming, and hopeful, last zombie, turned to face it. He lifted the sword¡­.. Triuk: Natural 1 ¡­.. and slipped over again. Grarl, even in the seriousness of battle, gave off a laugh as he moved in between his friend and the zombie, took aim with a hopeful repeat¡­.. Grarl to zombie: 10 + 6 = 16: Hit Damage: 10 + 4 = 14 ¡­.. but was unable to time or place the hit as well. Even so, brute force and sharp edges brought the zombie to a deadly stop. He fell to the ground. They had won the fight. Experience Earned. Split evenly. 275xp each Grarl Total XP: 575 Next Level achieved at 1000xp Triuk stood up, brushed of the soil and smiled. He approached Grarl while taking out a bandage and leaned to his neck. Grarl had temporarily forget his neck wound, but suddenly remembered it. Triuk, without words, applied a paste, wrapped the bandage around his neck then sat down beside him. Grarl said, ¡°Don¡¯t you have any healing magic?¡± Triuk replied, ¡°Not yet, I am still earning favor.¡± As they sat on the ground, considering the fight, the dark and their achievement, Grarl said, ¡°Maybe we need to find an Orckin Cleric?¡± Triuk said, ¡°I have been looking for all summer. I didn¡¯t want to start this insane mission without one, but it is harder than you think to find an Orckin Cleric that has nothing to do with Gruumsh.¡± ¡°Gruumsh: He-Who-Never-Sleeps. God of Orcs.¡± Triuk added, ¡°The good news is I heard a rumor that there was an Orckin Cleric up North, two or three days walk from here, who worships Obad-Hai, the God of Nature. I think we need that cleric sooner rather than later. One hit almost had you stuffed like a turkey.¡± Grarl fell back onto the ground. Looking up into the night sky, he felt lucky to be alive. Triuk said, ¡°We should head back, there are probably more of them here, and we are not able to deal with them all now.¡± With that said, Triuk stood up and began the return walk to home. 6 - Walking back to base As they walked out of forest, Grarl peered over to look at the farm that Abagail lived in. Safe behind her walls and locked door, family beside her, protection within the walls and now outside them. His neck hurt. Triuk noticed the twinge in Grarl¡¯s neck. ¡°Do we need to tend the wound? We need to avoid infection because we have no healer yet.¡± Grarl put his hand on the wound, there was still bleeding. He said, ¡°Can you fix the bleeding at least?¡± ¡°Not with something that bad. Shall we go to the farmhouse, maybe they will help with it?¡± Grarl, with hand on neck, feeling the thick blood move through his hand, looked across the newly cleared land and crop to the house. He wanted to get help, but he also hated asking for help. ¡°Grarl, lets go to the farmhouse, farmers normally have basic healers.¡± With that said, Triuk walked out of the cover of the forest into the open ground. Grarl was about to follow but a skeleton, scimitar raise, sprung out from the forest and attack Triuk from behind. Skeleton attacks Triuk: 20 (critical hit) Damage: 3 +1 = 4 x 2 = 8 The skeleton strikes Triuk in the head. Grarl heard the crunch of the head, saw the blood spout from his skull, it was a terrible blow to the head, yet Triuk didn¡¯t fall down. Initiative Rolls Skeleton: 5 + 5 = 10 Grarl: 5 + 2 = 7 Triuk: 5 + 2 = 7 The shock of the attack allowed the skeleton to take another hack at Triuk¡­¡­. Skeleton Attack Triuk: 2: Miss ¡­. but he managed to avoid the second swing by rolling forward out of harm¡¯s way. Grarl snapped into action, withdrew his sword rapidly and swung at the skeleton¡­¡­ Grarl attacks Skeleton: 1 (Fumble) ¡­.. He was not holding the hilt correctly in his haste and it fell to the ground in front of him. Cursing himself, he bent down to pick it, ensuring he held to properly. The skeleton was moving toward Triuk, but he was ready. Triuk attacks skeleton: 9 + 3 = 12: Miss Bloody had made its way into his eyes, blurring his vision and forcing a tragic mistake as his sword swung to far to the left. The skeleton was already over him and struck. Skeleton attacks Triuk: 2: Miss Grarl had his sword ready, moved onto the skeleton and hoping to hit it in full. Grarl attacks Skeleton: 19 + 6: Hit Damage: 8 + 4 = 12 This time he hit, his sword lodging itself in the skull doing enough damage to cease the existence, the skeleton collapsing to the ground to form a heap of bones, as it should. Experience Earned. Split evenly. 75xp each Grarl Total XP: 650 Next Level achieved at 1000xp Triuk looked at the skeleton, looked at Grarl, then said, ¡°Well, now we both need help with healing.¡± Then laughed. Triuk said, ¡°Walking out like that was stupid. We knew there were skeletons around, I should have checked.¡± Grarl said, ¡°Yeah, newby mistake. Don¡¯t do it again. Shall we go to the farm now?¡± Grarl waited for Triuk to move, when he stood up and started to walk directly to the farm again, Grarl yelled out, ¡°You didn¡¯t check again.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He yelled back, ¡°I know, you did it for me.¡± Grarl said to himself, ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t.¡± and chuckled to himself. He did check before he walked out though, he saw nothing so proceeded to follow the leader. It didn¡¯t take long to reach the farm. Triuk was looking a little fragile and pale, but he kept up the normal pace, approached the door then knocked three times. A piece of wood opened a spy hole, an old man looked out then said rather gruffly, ¡°What do you want?¡± Triuk answered, ¡°We wanted to let you know that we have been to the graveyard and killed three of the zombies and one skeleton. We also killed another skeleton on your farm.¡± The eyes kept peering out of the slot. The man said, ¡°Now what?¡± ¡°Nothing else, we are here to simply let you know the progress, and that there will still be skeletons walking around, and maybe a few zombies. We have had a few injuries, so we are heading home to get them mended. We will return tomorrow with two more Orckin to finish the job off.¡± Triuk waited for the reply, he got one with the spy hole being shut and the man walking away from the door. They both stood there for a while, Grarl was waiting for a thank you or offer of help. None came. Grarl said, ¡°I really thought they would at least offer a safe place for the night.¡± ¡°Yeah, well, nobody like Orckin, even when we do god things for them. Still, we don¡¯t do this for the glory, just the service.¡± Triuk walked toward the track that led to the path heading South. Grarl remained by the door a bit longer, hoping it was some kind of trick. He knew it wasn¡¯t, but he waited anyway. As Triuk began to disappear into the darkness, he decided the lesser side of humans had shown itself. He did a quick jog to catch up, then fell in beside his friend as they marched their way home. ¡°So, looks like Orckin are still the worst thing ever, even when we almost die doing it.¡± Triuk kept walking silently. Grarl asked, ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yes. I am a paladin. I do what I do for internal reasons. Not to get acknowledgement, fame or wealth. If a human needs help with zombies, I help them. If orcs need help not starting a losing war with humans, I stand between the orcs and humans to prevent it. It is who I am and what I do.¡± They kept making footsteps. Grarl listened to the crunch of gravel as the took their steps back home. Eventually, he said, ¡°I was just thinking. We have no gold because we are making a house to protect humans from orcs. The orcs hate us, the humans hate us, nobody is paying us, we could easily die and probably will. I, for one, am not here to the fun factor, I just want to go home.¡± Triuk asked, ¡°Then why don¡¯t you go home?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know where it is.¡± They kept walking in silence. Then Triuk said, ¡°When you said Walking Dead back there, did that saying come from your home?¡± Grarl stopped walking. Triuk turned to look back at him. Grarl answered, ¡°It is. Is it the same where you come from?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Jason was jumping for joy. He had found another player, he had real company. ¡°Do you know where home is?¡± ¡°Not yet, but I am looking.¡± They started the walk again. ¡°I have been lost for two weeks now. This is a brutal world, with plenty of ways to die, and I do not want to die.¡± ¡°So, why put yourself in the middle of a tense situation, why risk it?¡± Triuk said, ¡°I am here to play my part, I came here for a reason. But I wasn¡¯t aware of what I was doing until it was too late. And I have been busted three times finding help, it isn¡¯t worth it. So, I decided to do this instead. Let them show me the way home, and I will go there. Two weeks in, this time I am going all the way. ¡°What is the context of this conversation?¡± Grarl answered out loud, ¡°Home, it is all about home.¡± Triuk looked at Grarl. Grarl rolled his eyes to indicate Anna was curious. He got the message. Triuk said, ¡°We need a Cleric, badly. As I told you before, I heard a rumor about one, Orckin, not orc inclined and doing good things. We will sort the skeletons and zombies out tomorrow night with the other two. Then Masin can stay back to finish the house with the builders while you, me and Nunda go looking for this cleric orckin.¡± Grarl waited for Anna to keep talking, to tell him that he was breaching the rules, but she remained silent. ¡°Sounds like a plan to me.¡± With that said, and Jason overjoyed within his own mind, they made their way back home. They had only been gone four or five hours, but Masin and the ten builders were already laying down the first layer of the log house. Nunda was chopping a tree down with strokes that outmatched the men. When Masin spotted them, he approached to greet them, saw the wounds they both had and called over one of the builders then said, ¡°Can you fix their wounds?¡± The builder arrived, looked shocked, then ran away. Grarl said, ¡°Well, he obviously isn¡¯t up for it.¡± Then the man came running back with a small pack, sat beside Grarl, removed a sharp knife then said, ¡°I am going to cut the bandages off. Please trust me.¡± Grarl nodded. Within minutes the builder had the bandages off, cleaned the wound, stitched the gaping hole up, put some sort of foul smelling ointment on it, and bandaged it up again. Bind Wounds: Successful. Add 2hp to bring current HP to 5 He moved straight onto Triuk and repeated the process. Grarl was surprised at the level of skill he had. He asked, ¡°Where did you learn to tend wounds so well?¡± ¡°I was in the army for five years, I had to learn to fix wounds because there were never enough clerics. I got good at it because I had too. I hate seeing people die.¡± Grarl asked Triuk, ¡°Can we take him with us?¡± The builder answered, ¡°No, I am a builder. If you need help again, I will help. But I won¡¯t put myself in danger again.¡± Triuk said, ¡°Fair enough.¡± The night air gradually went from cool to cold. Blankets were brought out, the work stopped, meals made, beds set up and food eaten. The humans stayed together, the Orckin sat to the sides. Grarl said, ¡°Time to sleep. We can talk about what happened in the morning.¡± Nunda said, ¡°Yeah, looks like a story for daylight anyway. I will take first watch.¡± As Grarl threw his winter blanket over himself, Anna said, ¡°Day two is over. You have been playing for twenty minutes.¡± Jason felt too tired, too sore and to emotional for it to only be twenty minutes. As he fell asleep, his greatest fear was never getting out of the game. 7 - Returning to the zombies Falling asleep was easy. Waking up was still a mild shock to Jason. He opened his eyes, the heavy winter blanket provided plenty of warmth and security but as his eyes adjusted, the first faces he saw were Nanda, Triuk and Masin. Brutish, large, dark green faces. Weather worn, scarred and gruesome. Jason felt a surge of fear turn up in the first moments of awareness, then his mind remembered he was in a game. A cut neck, tired body, smelly game. Grarl: HP increased by 1 during the night. Current HP: 6 out of 10 He sat up to look around, the sun was just beginning to deliver its light, the builders were up and about cooking meals, heating up the water for the morning brew. Talking among themselves. Grarl lifted himself off the ground, stretched his limbs and gave a massive yawn. When he brought his eyes back to the men, they were all looking at him in mild fear, at worst respect for how large and unpleasant he looked. Nobody looked comfortable. Grarl called out them ¡°Good morning.¡± They gave a round of welcome head nods, looking away and a few shy ¡°Good mornings¡± made their way back to his ears. The talking became less relaxed and the serious talk began about which trees to fell, where to put them, the design of the house and when morning break would be. Masin stirred, then noticed the sun light. He stood up and immediately walked over to the humans, greeting each in turn, shaking hands, nodding and smiling his way through the small camp. He made it to the pot of brew and used the ladle to fill several mugs then started handing the out to people. Nanda said, ¡°He wants them to like us.¡± Grarl answered, ¡°Yeah.¡± She said, ¡°They will never like us.¡± Grarl felt a little sad inside, he understood the need to feel wanted and accepted. How it felt like the right thing to do things for others to get them to like you, and while it should work, it doesn¡¯t. Triuk added, ¡°We are not here to be liked, we are here to keep the peace.¡± Grarl was watching Masin cheerfully talking to the people, at how they used their fake smiles, hid the fears, and how their shoulders were tense in apprehension. Triuk said, ¡°We are in between two worlds, neither side will ever like us, but both accept our position. If we must be between their worlds, we may as well stand between them to stop the blood from flowing.¡± Nanda asked, ¡°Are we going to the graveyard to finish the rest of the undead off, or leaving them for the farmer to do?¡± Triuk got up, gave her a curt look then said, ¡°We will finish the job and accept no thanks for it. That is the way of it.¡± He walked off to the orckin firepit, the embers were still there so within a few minutes Triuk had a good fire going and was cooking up eggs with potato and leeks for all of them. Over the course of the next hour the camp was buzzing with movement. Trees were being chopped, others were making wooden nails, while several of the men, using two horses, were dragging logs onto the base of the house to form the wall. Nanda headed over to help by picking up her axe and swinging it into a tree. The men stood back in awe at the power she put into the swings. The tree, compared to the time it took two men to chop through it, went down faster with her chopping solo. Grarl wondered if she was stronger them him. And he knew he was powerful, but Nanda had more of it. Her muscles were leaner but thick. Nothing about her disagreed with the immense strength she possessed. Grarl said to Triuk as he joined him for breakfast, ¡°I wouldn¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of her sword.¡± Triuk laughed, ¡°No, you wouldn¡¯t. While you are bloody strong, she is stronger. I have no idea where her strength comes from, but it is frightening to witness.¡± Masin eventually finished his round, giving instructions for while he was gone. Nanda was finished with her warm up and Triuk and Grarl were well fed and satisfied. Again they carried few things with them, other than their weapons, a few torches and bandages. The assumption being they would be needed. When they left the camp, it was done with little fuss or talking. Each of them were contemplating what was ahead. While zombies and skeletons were not the most dangerous monsters out there, they had the potential to kill. Jason was feeling uncomfortable with returning to the graveyard. He was thinking that there must be another way to earn experience, one that included progress towards the safe point and home. He thought, ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be risking my neck on this, I need to focus on things and actions that always lead to home.¡± These ideas went round and round his head, until the farmhouse appeared. Then his mind switched over to being focused on the immediate danger of the undead. He saw Abagail working the land, she smiled and waved at Grarl but stayed where she was. He father, the man who only peered through the door last night, just glared at them all, then returned to working the soil. Triuk said, ¡°We are here to create peace, not create friendships.¡± With that, he turned off the road to cross the farmland to the edge of the forest. They all withdrew their weapons and readied themselves. Grarl said, ¡°My guess is three zombies and two skeletons.¡± Nanda said, ¡°My guess is you will only kill one.¡± Then laughed. ¡°Want to put gold on that?¡± Triuk said, ¡°Shut up, both of you. But I will give one gold piece for each kill you make.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Triuk took the first steps into the trees, Nanda beside him. Masin and Grarl followed closely behind. They were able to easily follow their own tracks to the graveyard, Grarl was surprised how close to the forest edge it was, lst night it seemed further away. They were all looking for undead on the outer side of the fence but saw nothing. It didn¡¯t take long to hear the groan from a zombie as it made its way toward them. Masin and Nanda took the lead to the gate, then waited for the sole zombie to come within reach. Initiative Masin: 20 + 3 = 23 Nanda: 4 + 1 = 5 Zombie: 4 ¨C 1 = 3 The zombie made it into the space of Masin first, so he made his move before Nanda could do her thing. Masin attack Zombie: 21: Hit Damage: 7 His sword rocked the zombie, throwing it off balance, giving Nanda room to move in with her battle axe. Nanda attack Zombie: 14 + 7 = 21: Hit Damage: 7 + 5 = 13 Her axe landed plumb in the middle of the head splitting it half. The zombie groaned one more time before falling to the ground, dead once and for good. Nanda said, ¡°That was easy, not sure why you two had so many problems earlier.¡± She made her way forward, stepping over the corpse with Masin in two laughing at her comment. Triuk and Grarl followed with Triuk saying, ¡°We are going to look inside the tomb, outside looks like it is cleared from out hard work last night.¡± Nanda looked enthusiastic about entering the tomb, Masin wasn¡¯t as sure but with Nanda in front, he followed. Grarl asked Triuk, ¡°We should check it out before going in.¡± but as he finished the sentence Nanda had already descended into the tomb, Masin soon after. Triuk said, ¡°Yeah, we should, too late now. Let¡¯s hope we have better luck than I did last night when I didn¡¯t check first.¡± Grarl did one last look through the graveyard, he spotted two zombies standing in the corner, but they hadn¡¯t noticed them, so he ducked into the tomb quickly to catch Triuk to tell him. But before he caught up, two zombie-like creatures leapt up from the ground and assaulted Nanda and Masin. At first Grarl thought they were zombies, but they were moving like skeletons, their skin was rotten and gnarled. Grarl wasn¡¯t sure what they were, but he knew they were not zombies. Initiative Grarl: 12 + 2 = 14 Nanda: 12 + 1 = 13 Ghouls: 10 + 2 = 12 Masin: 8 + 3 = 11 Triuk: 2 + 2 = 4 Grarl was already hyped up and ready for battle, he had a feeling the others were taking this lightly. So when the fast moving zombies sprang up, he was basically ready to smash anything that moved regardless of what it was. He instinctively knew Masin was not ready and knew Nanda could handle herself better than anyone, so he ran at the fast zombie by Masin first. Grarl attack Ghoul: 13 + 6 = 19: Hit Damage: 6 + 4 = 10 His sword swept through its shoulder, biting deep into it, but it somehow stayed up and angry. Nanda was readier than she appeared, she somehow turned a potential bad start into something that mirror awesomeness and lifted the sword upwards and into the ghoul torso under its outstretched arms. Nanda attack Ghoul: 18 + 7 = 25: Hit Damage: 3 + 5 = 8 She struck it cleanly, but something hindered her power. The ghoul went down anyway into a heap a rotting meat and bones. The ghoul in front of Masin, having a sword thrust into its shoulder, turned its attention to Grarl. Ghoul bite attack Grarl: 2 + 2 = 4: Miss It came at him with its mouth full of sharpened teeth and attempted to rip his neck apart, but Grarl elbowed it in the head as it got too close. This staggered the ghoul, allowing Masin to step in for his attack. Masin attack Ghoul: 10 + 0 = 10: Miss He seemed flustered in his movement, while not a total disaster of a move, Masin should have been able to finish the ghoul off, Grarl decided that he couldn¡¯t be a dedicated fighter as he felt the move should have worked but somehow didn¡¯t. Triuk leapt into the fray, his polished sword looking like it hadn¡¯t been ever used it was so clean. Triuk attack Ghoul: 12 + 4 = 16: Hit Damage: 8 + 3 = 13 He brought the sword down, and he almost looked like he was going to miss but didn¡¯t. The hit was clean, the ghoul collapsed and surrendered itself to a true death. Nanda said, ¡°That was easy.¡± Grarl answered, ¡°There are two more zombies walking around above us. We are not done yet.¡± Masin said, ¡°Treasure, where is it?¡± He began working his way through the tomb looking for traps and secret doors. Nanda said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind going up and dealing to them. Want to come, Grarl?¡± ¡°Sure, why not?¡± Masin called out, ¡°Hey, I can¡¯t find anything. Where the hells blazers is the treasure?¡± Nanda and Grarl returned to the top, peered carefully around for the zombies, saw them then Nanda said, ¡°Lets have some fun with them.¡± She walked out into the graveyard, sneaking to a large headstone that was blocked on both sides by thick bushes. She waved to Grarl to follow her, so he did. When he caught up, she stood up and called out, ¡°Hey, zombies, over here.¡± Both zombies came to life, groaned loudly then shuffled themselves directly towards Nanda and Grarl. When they reached them, with the tombstone and bushed blocking their progress, Nanda lined them up, lifted her sword, swung and beheaded them both with one strike. She laughed then said to Grarl, ¡°And that is how you kill a zombie the right way.¡± Triuk and Masin exited the underground tomb with Masin saying, ¡°Mate, if we don¡¯t find gold, we run out of the stuff. We need to find something bad that has gold so we can pay for the expenses.¡± Triuk said, ¡°We will find the answer. Be patient.¡± Nanda called out, ¡°Speaking of expense Triuk, I killed three zombies and one ghoul, you owe me three gold.¡± She looked to Grarl and asked, ¡°And Grarl gets nothing.¡± Experience Earned. 3 x zombies = 450xp 2 x ghouls = 600xp Total = 1050xp Split Evenly between four characters 263xp each Grarl Total XP: 913 Next Level achieved at 1000xp Triuk took out three gold pieces, handed them to Nanda who then pocketed them. They decided it was best to scout around for more wandering undead monsters, but they found nothing exciting beyond a few rats. Triuk was happy and called the mission a success. Masin was complaining about running out of gold and the need to find some by killing bad things with gold. Nanda laughed. Grarl just led the way out, towards the farm. When they reached the farm, Triuk called to the farmer ¡°They are gone now. If you have any other issues, let us know.¡± The farmer waved that he heard and understood, then went back to work. Abagail and her sister kept waving until their father told them to stop. Masin waved back with a smile. ¡°They seem nice.¡± 8 - Thinking of home. Returning to the base came with surprising additions to the log house being built. Grarl had expected it to take a long time, but with ten people, two horses and hard work, the walls were already going up, the internal layout was done, and doors being framed. He was seriously impressed. The builder who worked on the wounds reappeared to change the bandages, reapply the ointment and check it wasn¡¯t infected. Then Grarl and Masin decided to cook the evening meal for everyone in the camp. Masin walked the area asking if they were okay with them cooking. They all refused the offer. By the time they returned, Nunda was already half done cooking a meal for the Orckin. Feeling disheartened by the refusals, Jason was wondering if he wanted to pursue this path to getting home or not. The others talked about the fight, Nunda proudly detailing the sweeping attack on the last zombies and how she led them into her trap. Jason was half listening, half considering his way forward. What were his options anyway? He really had no idea where the save point was, other than a hunch it was somewhere with a boss monster in the way. He was only first level, nowhere near ready for the encounter. What hope did he have if he rushed? The people he was helping hated them even though they had put themselves at risk. Triuk asked Grarl, ¡°What are you thinking about? Your face is has a very serious look on it.¡± Masin added, ¡°And to be honest, it isn¡¯t an improvement on just plain ugly.¡± They all gave a little chuckle. Grarl answered, ¡°I am thinking about home.¡± Triuk gave a knowing nod. Then, without warning, he said, ¡°Anna, you may as well penalize me now because Grarl here is about to be told that all the Orckin sitting here are in the game.¡± Anna said to them all, ¡°Your admission has been noted. As punishment, since you are attempting to fudge the rules by doing this and take the entire penalty, is everyone here is returned to zero experience points.¡± Triuk, Masin and Nunda said in unison, ¡°Oh shit.¡± Grarl has had all experience points removed. Total XP: 0 If you do that again, the next penalty will be to increase the strength of all monsters by 10% Triuk looked around the camp fire, with a look of shame as he said, ¡°I am so sorry, I didn¡¯t expect her to do that. Still, better early on that later on. And now we can talk opening.¡± Be aware, that is any NPCs hear you talking opening, the penalty will be applied. This game prides itself on being realistic. Triuk said, ¡°Okay, only in secluded places.¡± Masin said, ¡°So, not now?¡± Triuk answered, ¡°Not now. But, we can discuss what we do tomorrow to further our cause of peace in the region. While this is a cover, we do this as it is done at home. The true enemy will be shown to us, and when we know what it is, we move in on it.¡± Masin added, ¡°We have the makings of a full group. We only need a mage or cleric. Or both. But given we are Orckin, mage is highly unlikely. I have never seen an Orckin mage.¡± Grarl said, ¡°How long have each of you been on this mission?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Triuk answered, ¡°Eight days and counting. I have been penalized four times. It doesn¡¯t seem bad, but it really is. Now you see how risky this whole fighting thing is, it is best to do as little as possible. And I sure as hell don¡¯t want stronger monsters.¡± Masin said, ¡°Five days.¡± Nunda answered, ¡°Seven days. I hang around with Triuk too much and penalties follow him. No more penalties Triuk, I want to get home already.¡± Grarl asked, ¡°So, what is the plan? And why is doing this a good idea? Because, to me, it is a stupid idea.¡± Triuk answered, ¡°A few days ago we ran into an oracle. They have them here to help move things forward. Anyway, it said that we are Orckin, that we are destined to set up a peace camp between the humans and orcs. And that there is a great evil that we need to overcome.¡± Nunda said, ¡°The oracle was really awesome, Triuk really isn¡¯t doing the experience any justice.¡± Grarl asked, ¡°Do you two know each other?¡± Nunda said, ¡°Triuk is my stupid older brother.¡± Masin said, ¡°The point is, we were told to do this, where to do it, so that is what we do. We finish this house, then do some peace work, then find the stupid evil that must be vanquished.¡± Nunda screamed in delight as she said, ¡°Yeah, that is how the oracle said it, vanquished.¡± Masin added, ¡°We also need gold, that means dungeon crawl. Who wants to do it?¡± Triuk said, ¡°We all do it. But before we go, we need a cleric. And we know there is an Orckin cleric to the North. First, we travel there, pick her up, come back, then go kill us some beasties.¡± Masin added, ¡°The odds are high that this cleric is a player. So, we must protect the cleric as one of us.¡± Grarl asked, ¡°Has anyone died in the game?¡± Masin went cold in the face. Nunda said, ¡°Masin lost his mate a few days ago. We aren¡¯t sure if the whole death thing is real or not. It seems stupid that it would be, but we really do not know. But we are treating it as real.¡± Grarl said, ¡°Okay.¡± Grarl was surprised to notice the sun had gone down. His eyes had been slowly converting to Dark Vision the entire time, and now he was looking across the construction site, he was aware of the different vision type. He asked, ¡°Do we want to travel for the cleric at night, or day?¡± Masin answered, ¡°Day is best. For now.¡± ¡°When do we leave?¡± ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Grarl was looking around at the builders. They had packed up for the day, were eating their food, but as he watched closely, he became aware that they always had someone on duty watching the orckin. They knew that should the orckin decide to attack them, they would all die. They were paid well, they were working well, and made the structure solidly. Even with the nice treatment, support, help and risks at helping with the zombies, they still didn¡¯t trust the orckin. Grarl asked, ¡°Do you think humans will ever trust orckin?¡± Nunda answered, ¡°Maybe, one day. You need to remember that orcs and humans have been warring for thousands of years here. And the orckin are a bastard mixed race from their enemy. And we are as ugly as fuck, it is much easily to hate ugly. Look at the half elves, a bunch of pansy drama queens who get all the love because they look pretty.¡± Masin laughed, Triuk smiled. Grarl said, ¡°How do you know the cleric will be a player?¡± Triuk answered, ¡°I don¡¯t. But the way this game is played, it makes sense. Mostly because when you play a role-playing game, the characters take center stage. The cleric will be a player. I have no idea who since I only bought the one unit, Masin¡¯s mate is out of the game, so he can return but hasn¡¯t yet. Do you have a second unit?¡± Grarl replied, ¡°Yes, my flat mate is joining the game. She was due home in twenty minutes, but I started without her.¡± Masin asked, ¡°How long have you been here, in days?¡± ¡°This is leading up to my third night.¡± Nunda, excited, said, ¡°That means she will be the cleric. I would put money on it. And that is why we only heard of her recently, she must have just made her character and is going through the set-up phase. This is awesome news for us.¡± Jason felt pleased about having Maree in the game. Knowing she was probably here made the situation better, and the game better. Grarl said, ¡°So, we pick her up tomorrow, find a dungeon to clear out, find the boss monster, kill it, find the save point and get the fuck out of this game.¡± Triuk answered, ¡°Yeah, that wraps it up nicely.¡± Grarl said, ¡°Okay then. I am going to sleep, the faster this gets done, the sooner I can get back home.¡± Masin said, ¡°That¡¯s the spirit, lets rock this game.¡± As Grarl stood and left, he was surprised the other three did the same thing. Under the cover of their tent, they each climb onto their mats, pulled their blankets up and went to sleep. ¡°This marks the end of day three in the game, and thirty minutes of playing. Remember that you have had your experience stripped from you.¡± A friend has entered the game. Maree is a Half Orc Cleric, Level One. You can link up with her in the town of Thakis. 9 - Maree joins the game Maree was in a rush to get home. Jason had called her earlier to inform her the new game had arrived and that he couldn¡¯t wait for her. Sure, he would get the basics done, help her rush through the beginning, but she rather enjoyed no having to rush. Now she would have to rush even more. She pulled the car into the drive, leapt from the car, through the open door (closing it behind her) and into the gaming room. She saw Jason sitting on the couch with the head set on his head, and her one sitting on the table nearby. ¡°You could have waited.¡± She told him. He just sat there, he was deep into the game, which was a very good sign. She said, ¡°Let me get something to eat and drink.¡± And she rushed to the kitchen, grabbed a frozen meal, threw it into the microwave and punched in five minutes. It was an okay lasagna for a frozen, premade meal. From there is grabbed her soft drink from the fridge, opened it while saying to herself, ¡°Caffeine.¡± Then drank from the bottle. She decided there was time to change clothes, so she got out of her work clothes and threw on seat pants and her most comfortable shirt. Bathroom to wash her face, brush her teeth and hands just in time to hear the microwave announce that the meal was ready. Back to the kitchen, open the meal, eat the meal which was as cardboard tasting as she had expected, back to the gaming room and sat down beside Jason. He hadn¡¯t moved. ¡°Any tips, Sweet Cheeks?¡± Jason just sat there, engulfed in the game. This made her more excited. She unpacked the headset, did the usual checks and was about to put it on when she said, ¡°Hey Jason, any tips?¡± Jason said, ¡°Hey, you are here.¡± Maree smiled to herself, ¡°Yeah, I am about to join you, any tips?¡± Jason said, in a slightly odd tone, ¡°Yeah, get on, join my game and be a half orc cleric. I have preset the game and the character is premade. It is only the first game, we can make a proper character next time.¡± Maree put the headset on while asking, ¡°What is the name of the game?¡± ¡°Grarl.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°Yep. That is the name of my character. Hurry up, we are on the way to getting you now.¡± ¡°Alright then, not be so impatient.¡± The screen popped up. Welcome to Cursed World Then a friendly woman said, ¡°Jason has already started the game and requested a pre-made character for you that will fit into the current game. Here is your character. If you are unhappy with this character, we can make another one for.¡± Another screen appeared showing her the character Jason had deemed appropriate. Half Orc Cleric Name: Saver Age: 17 years Level 1 XP: 0 XP for Next Level: 1000 Maximum Hit Points: 8 Armor Class Attack Defense GOD: Obad-Hai ¨C God of Nature Spells Domain Spell Zero: 3 First: 5 Undead Turn or rebuke Feats Skill ranks Class Features.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Race features Saving Throws Equipment Maree quickly read the character then said to Jason, ¡°Seriously? A half orc?¡± The kindly woman said, ¡°Jason has returned into the game and is unable to hear you. Soon, you will begin your game in the world that Jason is playing in. Are you ready to proceed?¡± Maree had a sudden feeling that something wasn¡¯t quite right. That Jason being unable to hear her or talk to her outside the game seemed out of place. But, in her eagerness to start, and her curiosity to know what kind of game was so immersive, she ran over the little warning walking through her brain while saying, ¡°We can proceed. I am a kick ass half orc with magic. Bring it on.¡± The friendly voice said, ¡°Thank you, the game can now begin. You will feel a moment of uneasiness, this is normal.¡± Maree was wondering what that meant when she suddenly felt it. Something was intruding into her mind, like imaginary fingers prodding her from within her thinking mind. She had the urge to rip the headset off but given the sensation was predictable, she didn¡¯t. Then she had a sensation of falling backwards even though she was in a chair, everything went blank and slightly dizzy. Before she could fully resister the disappearance of her sight, it came back. She was lying down on a hard bed. More like a blank of wood. She was surprised to even be feeling it. She lifted herself into a sitting position to look at her surroundings. She was unsure what to think. She was in a jail cell with four men. All of them sitting against the opposite wall, nervous looking and attempting to be small. Their fear was clear to her. Not knowing what was causing it, she stood up quickly, turning around to see what was causing the problem only to see a wall. She looked back at the men who were quickly shuffling themselves into the corner, staring wide eyed at her as if she was a terror.¡± ¡°Oh, she said, you are scared of me.¡± then laughed. She looked at her unfamiliar hands, they were huge. Taking a look up her arms revealed extremely solid looking limbs full of power. She had never been a strong person, but the tightness of her arm muscles amazed her. She thought, ¡°What kind of virtual reality is this? No wonder Jason was amazed.¡± ¡°The game is designed to be as real as possible. You are the character, you feel the pain, the body, everything will be as real as your own experience in your world. As a warning, please be aware that you will feel pain as real as in your own body, and death in this game means death in your world.¡± Out loud, she said, ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°The terms of the game are explained. You had the opportunity to read the terms, but you requested we begin as quickly as possible.¡± She answered, ¡°I don¡¯t think so, if that is how it works, I will leave the game now.¡± ¡°You can only leave the game at designated save points. Due to the options Jason selected for this world where people ¡°Learn As They Go¡±, the save points are hidden from the players in the game.¡± A sudden feeling of dread overwhelmed her. She was thinking that this is a joke, or a trick to increase the appearance of the real experience. But when she looked around her new experience, the clarity of the visuals was so good as to be indistinguishable from real life. As far as her brain was concerned, this was real. When she moved her body, she felt the muscles, understood the movement, she was in a real body. As she looked at the scared men in the room with her, there was no way of telling they were animated. They were real. She had a feeling, the same one she had just before she entered the game, that the kind woman was telling the truth. In a very short space of time, Maree had gone from excited to play to understanding this new world could kill her. She said, ¡°How can I talk to Jason in the game?¡± ¡°There are no functions to communicate with other players unless you talk to them directly in the game.¡± ¡°So, basically this game has hijacked me and can kill me.¡± ¡°You elected to play the game without reading the terms and conditions.¡± She thought, ¡°This can¡¯t be legal.¡± ¡°The owners of the game have done everything legally.¡± She thought, ¡°Can you read my mind?¡± ¡°I am able to communicate with you within your mind.¡± ¡°Well, I want that to stop right now. You are not to read my mind, only when I talk to you. Understand?¡± ¡°Done. From this point on, if you need to communicate with me, you need to speak and say, ¡°Anna¡± at the beginning of the sentence. So that you are aware, there is a severe punishment for divulging your player status to players and non-playing characters. But you will know which character Jason¡¯s is¡± Maree was fuming. She thought, ¡°I am going to kill Jason when I see him. For fucks sake, he could have told me before I came on.¡± Then she said, ¡°Anna, how often do people die in this game?¡± ¡°91% of people playing this game die.¡± Yeah, she was going to kill Jason. She stood up, when she did, the first thing she noticed was how tall she was. She was a head taller than her human self, heavier and more muscular. She liked it. Them men were in the corner, attempting to look small. She said, ¡°And why are a bunch of men in the same call as a half orc woman?¡± The man at the back answered, fear in his eyes and voice, ¡°Why are you asking us. You know we tried to kill you. Our punishment is three days in the same cell as you.¡± She said, ¡°That seems like a strange punishment. Why put you in the same cell as the one you attacked?¡± The men were unsure what to say so the bravest one said, ¡°Because three days in a cell with a pissed off half orc normally ends in death. We would rather not die.¡± She said, ¡°Four grown men against one lady half orc. That seems like a fight you would win.¡± ¡°We thought so too. But we were wrong, and just as you were about to bludgeon us with that mace of yours, the guards turned up.¡± She sat back down, wondering what she was capable of if she could beat four men at once. She said, ¡°If you treat me like a princess for the next few days, I will let you live.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± The brave man said. Saver said, ¡°I think you meant to say, Yes, Princess.¡± He said, ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± ¡°All of you say it.¡± In unison, they said, ¡°Yes Princess.¡± She said, ¡°That¡¯s better.¡± She took a closer look around the cell. It wasn¡¯t big, enough room for four bunk beds and some standing room in the middle. Three walls were solid stone, one wall was iron bars from top to bottom. She had no idea where she was. ¡°Okay boys, you are now going to explain a few things to me.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± She reminded them ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± ¡°Yes, Princess.¡± ¡°Better. Now, first thing I need to know is, where are we?¡± 10 - Finding a cleric Grarl opened his eyes. Jason was calm. He felt around the wound on his neck to feel if it was healing well or not. He was surprised to find it was doing well. Whatever the healing builder had done, was working. A good night of sleep +2hp Total: 8hp Masin was already up, instructing the builders, and they listened. Grarl thought the effort Masin was putting into creating relationships with builders was wasted. Humans would never trust orckin, so why bother. Yet as he observed Masin doing his morning rounds, smiling, being friendly, providing encouragement, there was a slight improvement in relations between Masin and the humans. Maybe it was worth it. Then Masin left the group of builders he was talking too, and half of them gave him the finger. Maybe not. Triuk called to Grarl and Nunda, ¡°Get up and eat. We leave within the hour.¡± Grarl got up, gave Nunda a slight kick in the side to hurry up while making a quick sidestep to avoid her surprisingly quick attempt at thumbing his leg. She missed. Around the fire Triuk said, ¡°Masin and I discussed our options last night while you two slept. I hope that is okay with you both, but we needed a plan.¡± Grarl said, ¡°I don¡¯t mind, I have no idea what to do anyway.¡± Nunda simply shrugged her shoulders to say she didn¡¯t care. She looked as if it was a foregone conclusion that she wouldn¡¯t be involved in decision making, and she didn¡¯t seem to care as he ate her pancake with honey. Triuk said, ¡°We believe the best thing to do is head to Thakis, a decently sized town two days away from here. We know the cleric is there, we know enough to think the cleric will join us. It makes the walk worth it. When we have the cleric, our little group will be five strong. We need experience, gold and a way to improve relations between the orcs and humans before they start fighting again. We have a mild acceptance on the human side by building this house for us and to provide a place for negotiating issues. But we have no relations with the orcs other than Grarl having a half-brother who wants to kill him. So, we need to do something for the orcs to prove ourselves. Something decent that they can¡¯t do.¡± Grarl bit into her pancake. It was surprisingly tasty. And it was another reminder of how detailed the virtual reality was. He was seriously wonder how the hell it was being done. Triuk drank some water, took a bite from the pancake he had just removed, then kept talking, ¡°Today, one of the builders mentioned that there was a disturbance in the hills, something big, and it is killing orcs. That is all we know about it. So, when we get the cleric, rather than return here, we are heading into the forest to investigate the disturbance, fix it, then inform the orcs we have resolved the issue for them.¡± Grarl said, ¡°You make it sound easy. That all we need to do this thing and the orcs or humans will listen to us.¡± Nunda said, ¡°He thinks the world works like that. He is wrong. But then, this is not the world, it is a stupid, crazy dangerous game. So, we need to try. I, for one, want to find the save point and get the hell out of here. Even though I am really enjoying it.¡± Grarl considered Nada for a moment, then Triuk. Grarl said, ¡°Look, your plan is better than no plan. We are here to have an adventure, we can either have it or find a farm somewhere remote and live the rest of our life here.¡± Masin arrived then said, ¡°Do they know?¡± Grarl answered, ¡°We know. Have you finished sucking up to the humans?¡± ¡°Yep, and it is slowing working.¡± He went to the campsite to begin organizing his backpack, throwing in some rope, rations and other items. As that was happening, they finished their meal then packed their own backpacks. Within a short time, all four of them were ready to go. As they headed back out from camp, walking the North Road to Thakis, Grarl was coming to recognize some of the turns, the curves of the hills. The farm with Abagail came quicker than he expected. Abagail, yet again raised her hand in acknowledgement. Grarl returned it. She, at least, seemed grateful. Her father, rather predictably, made her stop waving. Although this time, it almost looked like the old man gave Grarl a slight nod of acknowledgement. Grarl reciprocated the nod exactly. Soon after the farm the clouds started to roll in from over the hills. Nothing sinister, but still full of rain and coming directly for them. Jason was feeling exposed as he knew they were walking and had nowhere to sleep the night, when it came. He felt strange thinking that he couldn¡¯t simply get into his car and drive home to a warm house and comfortable bed.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. He had to walk and accept the idea of an uncertain shelter at the end of the day. The rain eventually caught them, it was a cold rain that sucked the warmth out immediately from your skin. The rain kept going for hours, his skin was in pain from the unending cold water smacking against it. Grarl felt he had been walking forever. He was trying to tell himself that this day will end, that each step was one step closer to shelter. He tried counting his steps down from one thousand on multiple occasions but gave up on it after a while as it was bringing him down. Even though it took forever, they made it to a small village. Walking into the row of shops made Jason feel safe. Seeing the people pull their children closer as they walked by made him feel angry. Triuk led them into a small tavern, approached the keeper and negotiated a room for them to sleep in. He handed over the gold. The tavern keeper pointed down the corridor and said, ¡°Room three. Don¡¯t break anything or you will pay for it.¡± Masin smiled while saying, ¡°Thank you for the room. We will return here on the way back.¡± Nunda simply grinned and thank the man. Grarl gave him a death stare that was so good he took a step back in fear. That made Jason smile on the inside. The room was basic, only had two beds and some old mattresses leaning against the wall. Thankfully there was enough room for Masin and Grarl to take their turn on the floor with the mattresses. Half way through the night Nunda wanted to swap to the floor because the bed was so uncomfortable. In the morning, Triuk informed them that they were about to run out of gold. He had enough for breakfast but nothing else. Nobody complained. But after their breakfast, with packs on backs and plenty of sun warming them up nice against a chilled breeze, they decided it was better to reach Thakis today without food then wait another day to hunt and prep the kill for eating. Masin said, ¡°We need gold.¡± Grarl had his hand in his pocket holding the gem he found after killing his first orc and wondered how valuable it was. And he wondered why he didn¡¯t tell anyone that he had it. Since they had no food, the only reason to stop was to reduce tiredness and drink. This meant they made good time even though their energy levels were dropping. For some reason, Jason was surprised at how well Grarl was coping with the low levels of eating, his body was tired, but he wasn¡¯t getting the hungry pangs he got in his own body. As the sun was became its decent into late afternoon, they crested a hill and saw Thakis for the first time. They all stopped on the hill to view the township, Grarl said, ¡°This is the first medieval type town I have ever seen. It is more advanced than I expected it to be.¡± They were looking down onto a town with stone walls around it that reached three time the height of a normal man. They were made solidly and created an imposing fortification. The town was capable of defending itself and by the appearance of it, they were used to doing it. Triuk said, ¡°This town is actually impressive. I wonder if those walls are there because of humans fighting humans, or defending against orcs?¡± Nobody answered. But twenty minutes later, as they closed the distance, the answer came to them in the form of three orc heads on sticks on the side of the road. They all took their time staring at the rotting heads and they all silently understood that this place would not be overly friendly to them. Or less friendly than they thought was bad. As they neared the town, more people appeared. They each kept a safe distance from the orckin. Everyone knew they were orckin, so nobody outright denied their movements. Until the walked the road along the wall to the gateway. The guards saw them approaching from a distance and were prepared and tense as they began the encounter. The lead guard walked out to meet them, making a direct blocking path so Masin had to stop. The guard asked, ¡°What is your business here?¡± Masin said, ¡°We are here for food and rest and to pick up an orckin cleric we heard is here.¡± ¡°She is in lock up for a few days. She took exception to four men harassing her and broke the town rules of no fighting.¡± Masin said, ¡°She was being harassed and is now being punished for defending herself?¡± ¡°They are all being punished. She is more than capable of dealing with them, all orckin can do that. We wanted her removed but given she has been healing people for the last week or so, we reduced her term to four days in a cell.¡± Masin said, ¡°That is good of you. How much longer is her term got?¡± ¡°One day.¡± Masin turned to Triuk to say, ¡°We have a one day stay.¡± Triuk said, ¡°We need to speak to her. Is it possible for us to speak with her?¡± The guard looked back at the tower and gave them a signal. He waited for their reply before saying, ¡°We are a lawful town. Your weapons are allowed for defending only, but even that comes with a punishment. We do not tolerate problems in the walls from your kind. We have enough issues with the orcs and it is only the kindness of the mayor that she has allowed orckin into the town. I know it will end in orckin being banned, it only takes one to ruin it. So, while you can enter, make sure you stay lawful, don¡¯t be the one who gets all orckin banned. Not that I want your kind in here, but because for orckin to be banned, bad things happen to the people here. Understand?¡± ¡°Yeah, I understand.¡± He indicated with the sweeping of his hand that they could pass and enter. As they walked through the gate the other guards said¡­¡­ ¡°Go live with the orcs.¡± ¡°Make trouble, I like punishing your kind.¡± ¡°Fuck off, Dog Faces.¡± The orckin walked through pretending to be deaf. On the other side there was a market space. It was busy with stands for fruit, meat, vegetables, clothes and more. Everyone who saw them coming stared and gave room. It was like a path was opening before them as the human tress parted ways. On the other side of the market, they located a tavern but before entering it Triuk said, ¡°We have no more gold. I will see if we can earn our keep. Wait here.¡± Grarl said, ¡°Wait, I have a gem we might be able to sell. I got it off the orc I killed a few days ago.¡± He pulled the green stone out of his pocket and showed them in his open palm. Masin came forward to get a closer look. Masin said, ¡°Mate, if you let me sell that little beauty, I will get about 100gp for it.¡± Grarl said, ¡°Looks like we have enough after all.¡± 11 - Get out of jail card Maree was perplexed as to why four grown men were scared of her. She was only a first level cleric, and even with her size and strength advantage, she had figured out that they should be able to win the fight, especially since she had no weapon other than her spells. As she spent the days asking them question about the world she was in, she decided that the reason they were scared was because they were bullies with fear in their hearts. They dare not attack her, even while she slept, because they each feared she would kill whoever started it. And neither of them wanted to die in the name of bullying. They were right. Maree, even though she took the entire death in the game situation seriously, she would fight back. She was in a game, and in games, she was tactically aggressive. On the first morning Anna said, ¡°As part of you class of Cleric, you need to spend one hour giving prayer to your god, Obad-Hai. If you fail to give prayer to Obad-Hai, you will not receive the spells you elect and lose those you already have.¡± ¡°Anna, how do I do that?¡± ¡°I suggest you pray to find out¡± ¡°You are really useless.¡± When she talked, the men woke up. They were less fearful now they had been talking to her for a while, but Maree had ensured they remained cautious of her. They had, after all, attacked her. In spite of the unclear answer from Anna, she decided to do as was suggested Given she had no idea how to pray to Obad-Hai, and all she remembered about the god came from a game years ago when a druid was in the group for a while (who was brutally, and ironically, killed by a boar.), she figured the focus should be on nature. She sat on the ground, crossed her legs, bowed her head and began to quietly chant, ¡°Shalm, my thirst for knowledge grows. Lend me your wisdom and bury my doubts.¡± She found her own rhythm in her chant. Remained quiet in her words, and was open to something coming her way in the form of knowledge, wisdom and the removal of her doubts about how to pray to him.¡± By the end of the hour, none of the hoped-for things came. You have successfully prayed for the morning. Since you did not select any spells before the prayer, you have kept the spells from the previous day¡¯s selection. She was feeling slightly annoyed about not selecting spells. Tomorrow, she would change them. She spent the day ignoring the men other than telling them to stay where they are or there will be consequences. When the jail keeper came by with their excuses for a daily meal, he saw the men in the corner and laughed. He said to Saver, ¡°Orckin women are scarier than the men¡±. As he walked away after delivering the meals he said, ¡°Hey, boys, do not upset her, they deserve their reputations.¡± And laughed some more at the how childlike the men were compared to Saver. Saver looked down at the meals and wasn¡¯t sure if it was edible. And the shares within the bowls were uneven. So, she lined the bowls up and scrapped out half of the other meals into her bowl then slide them over to the boys. They dared not complain. Then she cast Purify Food over her share. The request for purify food was given. The food looked no different, although it may have smelled slightly better. At least she knew she wouldn¡¯t get sick from it. She began scoping the food up in her fingers and shoveling it into her mouth. She had the odd comparison to taste as her last meal in the real world. When she completed her meal, she looked to the others engulfing the respective meals. They were hungry. She didn¡¯t care. ¡°Why did you attack me?¡± They stopped eating. She glared them into talking. The younger man said, ¡°We thought that since you are a cleric that you wouldn¡¯t fight back much.¡± The bearded man added, ¡°And hardly anyone cares if an orckin is attacked.¡± The oldest man said, ¡°I just hate orckin and orcs.¡± Saver looked at them and wondered why they were being so honest. Then she didn¡¯t care because she wanted them fearful of her. Asking about the honestly would show she cared. She did care. But she also wanted to smack them all in the head for attacking her for the reasons they gave. She sat back on her bed, allowing them to finish their half meals. She was pondering what to do all day in a room with four idiots that she wanted to punch. Her questioning from the day before achieved very little other than they knew very little about the world beyond two days walk. The most interesting thing was a rumor of orckin setting up a base two days South. She figured that sounded like something Jason would do. He was always trying to turn evil creatures into something to care about. When he was being the dungeon master, he would create sympathy for creatures like goblins and orcs, succeed, then proceed to smash the sympathetic group into the ground.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. She wondered if he was laughing now. As she sat there, pondering how she had somehow managed to be in an adventure based virtual reality yet was sitting there bored out of her mind. She was also wondering if the 91% who died in the game had died of boredom. He was startled by the jail keeper banging the bars. He looked up and saw him, plus four orckin behind him. Three male, one female. Now that she was seeing her own kind, she understood why people feared orckin. They were all scary ass looking people. We have highlighted Jason¡¯s character, Grarl for you. This highlight will disappear in five seconds. She looked up to see there was an orckin showing a slight red highlight around his body. She said, ¡°Sweet cheeks, what took you so long?¡± The glowing orckin, with the highlight fading, said, ¡°You must be Tinkerbell¡± Everyone was looking at them with confused looks. Grarl said, ¡°This is Saver, the cleric we are looking for. We already know each other.¡± The jailer said, ¡°Man, how is it orckin are so freaking ugly yet also nice?¡± Saver said, ¡°The world is a mysterious place, you should start seeing rather than looking¡± Triuk said to the jailer, ¡°Is the deal met?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he answered, ¡°it is met¡± The jailer removed the keys from his pocket and told everyone, meaning Saver, to step back and stand against the wall. She did. The door as opened while he said, ¡°Saver, you can leave, the rest of you stay.¡± Saver left the cell, walked over to stand by Grarl, looked up at him and said, ¡°I know it is you, but I can¡¯t give you a hug, it is, well, it is weird hugging a body I have just met.¡± The cell door was closed, then locked, and they all heard a sigh of relief from within the cell. Masin asked, ¡°What did you do to them?¡± ¡°Nothing, they tried to attack me, we ended up here. I politely explained to them that if any of them touch me again I would rip off their heads.¡± Masin said, ¡°Kudos, because it clearly worked.¡± The orckin all laughed. The jailer put his head down then led them up the stairs. He unlocked the door, led them into another room, locked the door behind them, turned around then knocked on the large iron door, a slider opened to check everything was good then the exit door opened. Saver¡¯s eyes suddenly struggled with the excess light, and she became aware that the cells were far darker than she understood. Then she remembered that half orcs have dark vision. The men in the room were probably struggling to see properly. They entered a larger room, the jailer got Triuk to sign something, was handed a pouch with what sounded like coins in it. The jailer said, ¡°It was good doing business with you. I hope you hang around as I would like more of the same kind of exchanges.¡± Then he laughed. It wasn¡¯t malicious, it was like a laugh of realism. When they made it outside, Saver was overwhelmed by everything. Buildings that were new yet styled from thousands of years ago. People in what looked like costumes. Everyone staring and giving plenty of distance around the group. The smells of an unclean town, the sounds of horses, and too much light. She started to feel unwell. Masin placed a hand on her shoulder while saying, ¡°This can quickly become overwhelming, look at the ground, we are leaving Thakis immediately to set up camp a couple of hours walk away. You will feel better when we get out of here.¡± She put her head down as suggested. She was guided through the streets with her hand in Masin¡¯s hand. The uneasiness in her mind remained but when they left the town, as the sounds reduced and the air freshened into the scents of forest, she regained her composure. When she finally did look up, she was treated to the soft greenery of nature, the calming view of rolling hills with a backdrop of snowcapped mountains bringing a chill breeze to them. She thanked Masin for the support, he smiled back. Even though it seemed to be a cruel smile on an ugly face, his eyes told her the story of kindness that he had. After a while they found a place to sit and rest. Grarl said, ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know why I started to freak out. I was doing fine before.¡± Triuk said, ¡°We all understand. This is not a normal game, we are all trapped until further notice. And the quality of the experience makes me wonder if this is virtual or, in fact, another reality.¡± Saver said, ¡°Grarl, just tell me you have a plan.¡± Grarl answered, ¡°We have a plan. Basically, we treat this like a normal roleplaying game. That means we need to find a boss of some sort, deal with it and hope the save point, and escape, is there. In the meantime, we do what adventurers do, we play the heroes of the world and do good shit.¡± Saver asked, ¡°And what is the good shit we are going to do?¡± Triuk said, ¡°We are building a force of orckin to separate and negotiate issues between the orcs and humans, who are in conflict. We have only just started. We have a home being built right now. We have started to build trust in the human village. Now we are heading into the forest to gain the trust of the orcs.¡± Saver asked, ¡°Can we actually die? I mean, this is a game and the idea that we can actually die in a game is stupid, but look at this place, this is not normal so maybe Anna is telling the truth.¡± Grarl answered, ¡°Nobody knows for sure because nobody here has been able to leave the game. We are all first level. For now, lets assume it is true. So, be careful, stick together, build up the experience points so we are more capable of staying alive.¡± Saver said, ¡°Sounds like a plan. Where are we going to get the experience?¡± Nunda said, ¡°By killing some evil fucks in that forest. Not orcs though. But there are gnolls in there attacking the orcs and something big influencing them. That is where we are going.¡± ¡°Yeah, we may as well enjoy it. Shall we get going?¡± Saver asked. Triuk said, ¡°Not before you put on the armor we got you, and hopefully you are okay with either a mace or quarterstaff.¡± Your god preferred weapon is the quarterstaff. ¡°Quarterstaff.¡± Nunda threw the quarterstaff to her, she caught it easily. Without really knowing what she was doing, she started doing some quarterstaff drills for attack and defense. She was surprised at how her body knew what to do while she had no idea. ¡°Okay,¡± Saver said, ¡°I know how to use this thing. I will practice while we walk. The first fight is going to be interesting.¡± Masin laughed. ¡°Yeah, that is for sure. Can we get moving again, I want to be in the forest before the night arrives.¡± Without anything else being said, they stood up, Triuk in the front and began walking. Grarl waited for Saver to stand while saying, ¡°We have been together a few days, we already have a routine.¡± She asked, ¡°Are you scared?¡± ¡°I am terrified. But the fights, while scary, are also a lot of fun. Prepare yourself for it, and stay close to me because I kick ass.¡±